The Savage Night

by P. T. Hylton

  Alex thought for a moment. “Do the people here know about New Haven?”

  “Just the vampires. And I think it’s best if we keep it that way for now.” He stifled a yawn. “I’ll have George take your team to the communication room. It’s fairly limited, but once New Haven flies within a few hundred miles of here, they should be able to pick up your signal. In the meantime, it’s nearly morning. That means it’s bedtime for me and mine.”

  Alex chuckled. “What, you can’t stay up past your bedtime? You’re underground. No sunlight.”

  “It’s not that I can’t stay up. More like it would be a terrible idea. Vampires feel sick during the day, even if there’s no sunlight. It’s painful and our minds don’t work as well. Best to just sleep through it.”

  Alex nodded, filing that information away. Of course, she knew that vampires were weaker and slower during the day. At least, she knew that was the case with the types of vampires Jaden and his friends called “Ferals.” But it was fascinating to hear it from the perspective of a vampire. To know how it actually felt.

  As strong as vampires were, it was good to know humans would always have one advantage over them: humans could sleep whenever they damn well pleased.

  “There’s a spot in a valley about five miles from here that would work as a rendezvous point,” Jaden continued. “We’ll help you and your team out there. Then we can pull back before your friends arrive if it makes you more comfortable. Like I said, I’m just happy to help New Haven keep flying.”

  He turned and started to walk away, but Alex called to him.

  “Jaden.” She waited until he turned back to continue. “Thank you. For everything.”

  He nodded, then walked away.

  Twenty minutes later, Alex was in the communication room with Jessica, Owl, and Firefly. George had given them a quick demo of how to use the equipment before he left them alone, and they’d been attempting to contact New Haven ever since.

  “You don’t think this is one of those things where they say we can use their equipment but it doesn’t actually work, do you?” Firefly asked. “Call me crazy, but I’m not ready to trust a bunch of vampires just yet.”

  “Not likely,” Owl replied. “They said this comm only has a range of a couple hundred miles. New Haven won’t be overhead for another hour or so. Assuming they are even passing close to this longitude.”

  “They will,” Alex said. “No way would CB let them give up on us this quickly. Keep trying to signal them.”

  Owl kept speaking into the comm unit, and she was getting the same lack of results for her effort.

  During one of the lulls between Owl’s attempts, Jessica spoke up. “Guys, we need to talk about what this place means for the future of New Haven.”

  Firefly frowned. “What? That we’re not the last human city?”

  “That’s only part of it,” Jessica said. “The technology here is incredible. There’s so much we can learn if we work with them.”

  “You really think the council’s going to agree to work with vampires?” Firefly asked.

  “Maybe not at first. But they did save Wesley’s leg. And they gave us the parts we need to save New Haven.”

  “Let’s worry about getting home,” Alex said. “We can figure out what to tell the council after we’ve ensured New Haven can keep flying.”

  CB paced the length of the ship, casting a critical eye on everything from the equipment in the hold to the controls in the cockpit. Not that he was going to find anything new. He’d already walked the entire ship three times. While it wasn’t the beautifully maintained, immaculately clean ship the old one had been, he couldn’t find much to complain about. At least not much that could be fixed in the hour before they were scheduled to depart for the surface.

  When he reached the cargo hold for the fourth time, he stopped and forced himself to take a deep breath. He hated this part. The waiting. The moments when his mind ran through all the way the mission could play out over and over again, each iteration slightly different from the last.

  He always disliked this part, but today was worse than usual. Because he knew going on this mission was a very bad idea, and if he stopped moving too long, let himself really contemplate what they were about to do, he just might talk himself out of it.

  He couldn’t let that happen. Granted, the odds that any of his team members had survived a night on the surface were very long indeed, but he had to know for sure. If there was even a sliver of possibility, he had to work on the assumption that they were alive.

  The fact that he’d managed to get this mission approved at all practically qualified as a miracle. If it hadn’t been for Fleming’s desperation to get CB on his side and the leadership void left when the general was locked up, there was no way they’d be heading to the surface.

  Hell, if CB thought about it too hard, he’d start to have doubts himself.

  So he kept pacing.

  The newly minted members of the GMT began to arrive twenty minutes before departure. A few of them made jokes, but it was clear every one of them was terrified.

  A heavy ball of worry formed in CB’s stomach as he considered what it would be like to encounter vampires with these green recruits at his side. He was still sporting the cast that had been his souvenir from Wesley’s first mission. He knew from experience that a single newbie could throw things into chaos. A whole team of them could do a hell of a lot worse.

  As he’d told the team, he’d done this before, back when he was the sole survivor of the attack on his first team. The difference was they’d been able to build up slowly, taking short, safe missions to the surface with little chance of vampire encounters.

  This new team would not have that luxury.

  After exchanging a few words with each of the team members, making sure they were ready for this thing and weren’t freaking out too much, he checked his watch and was surprised to see how much time had passed.

  He touched the radio on his chest and spoke into his headset mic, addressing both his team and the crew outside the ship. “All right, people, it’s time.” He paused, wishing there was something more eloquent to say, but then he shrugged and made his way through the passenger hold.

  The familiar whir of the engines starting sent vibrations through the ship and up into CB’s feet. The team was dead silent, every one of them staring into the void. Tension hung thick in the air, and CB could have sworn it was a few degrees hotter in that hold than in other parts of the ship.

  He didn’t say anything more to them. He’d already given his pep talk. Now was the time for them to get their heads right. They’d either cut it or they wouldn’t. Nothing he said would make a difference now. He made his way to the cockpit for takeoff.

  Chuck sat hunched over the controls, staring intently at the opening hangar door.

  CB sank into the copilot’s chair. “How many times you been off New Haven?”

  Chuck kept his eyes focused on the door. He leaned on the controls and the ship rolled smoothly forward toward the blue sky beyond the hangar. “I don’t know. A few dozen times. I had to log a hundred hours to get certified to fly, and I have to do ten a year to recertify. Never more than fifty miles from the city, though. And never anywhere near the surface.”

  CB chuckled and slapped him on the arm. “Time to expand your horizons, son. Take us out.”

  As they shot through the hangar door and into the void beyond it, CB flipped a switch on his radio, setting it to transmit to the team. Unlike Chuck, the rest of this crew had never been off New Haven. “Welcome to the wider world. You’re part of an elite fraternity now. It won’t be long now before you have real Earth dirt stuck to the bottom of your boots.”

  The team didn’t respond, but that was all right; CB hadn’t expected them to.

  He spent the next twenty minutes studying the terrain map of the area where his team’s ship had disappeared.

  Chuck shifted in his seat. He’d been gripping the controls hard ever since they left New Hav
en. “So, Captain… the other ship was shot down, right?”

  CB grunted in the affirmative.

  He cleared his throat softly. “And, um, are we concerned about those guns?”

  “Very,” CB said. “They must have been automated. An old defensive system meant to protect the NORAD facility, maybe.” He set down his map and turned toward Chuck. “Look, the team was caught off guard. That won’t happen to us. We’re going to approach with extreme caution. We’ll start circling the area so high, they’d need to fire a missile to―”

  The radio crackled, and a distant, unintelligible voice spoke. Then it was gone.

  Chuck glanced at CB, beads of sweat standing on his forehead. “Is that New Haven?”

  CB didn’t answer, but he knew it wasn’t. New Haven wouldn’t have any trouble reaching the ship. This was a weaker signal. And that voice… He hadn’t been able to make out much, but it had almost sounded like―

  “New Haven, do you copy?” The voice was clearer this time, and there was no mistaking the speaker.

  Alex.

  The blood drained from CB’s face as he snatched the radio from its cradle and held it close to his lips. “Goddard? Is it really you?”

  A long silence answered him, and for a terrible moment, he thought the signal had faded.

  Then the radio crackled again. “Holy hell, CB, it’s good to hear your voice.”

  CB couldn’t have wiped the grin off his face even if he’d wanted to. “Are you safe?”

  “Safe enough. I’ll explain when we see each other. Think you can give a girl a ride home?”

  “Goddard, don’t you know me better than that? I’m already on my way.”

  Alex shielded her eyes with a hand as the ship appeared in the sky and sped toward their location. It was a bright, sunny morning, but she was still ready for anything. She knew from painful experience that vampires could be hiding under the snowbanks. Granted, they couldn’t come out in the sunlight, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t reach out and pull her in.

  Wesley lay on a cot next to Alex. He was awake but groggy. The doctors of Agartha had given him the best treatment possible, but it would be at least a week before he was walking again.

  Owl had her eyes fixed on the ship as she leaned against the stack of parts the vampires of Agartha had helped them bring to this location. “The backup ship. I hate the backup ship.”

  “It’s the only one we’ve got now,” Alex pointed out.

  The ship settled gently down into the snow and the cargo door almost immediately groaned open.

  Alex took a step toward it, but a hand on her arm stopped her.

  “Hey,” Firefly said. “Before we go back, I just wanted to say thanks. For everything. You’re a great leader, and… Well, just remember I appreciate all you’ve done for me and the team.”

  Alex stared at him a moment, caught off guard by the comment. Before she could respond, CB stepped off the ship.

  She waited twenty feet away, conflicting emotions swirling inside her. She was delighted to see CB and anxious to get the parts back to New Haven, but that also meant she’d have to tell him she’d lost Drew. Saying the words out loud would cement it as reality, and not just part of this bizarre fever dream of a trip to the surface.

  CB marched toward her at a fast clip, his face screwed up with emotion. For an awkward moment, she thought he was going to hug her, and she kind of wanted to hug him back. But he was her commanding officer, so he just grabbed her by the shoulder.

  “Goddard, thank God you’re alive.” He looked at the others. “Thank God you all are alive.” He paused. “Wesley, are you…?”

  “I’m ready for my next mission,” he said with a weak smile.

  “Glad to hear it. Wait. Where’s Drew?”

  Alex hesitated. “I’m sorry, CB. The vampires got him.”

  CB’s eyes snapped shut as he mouthed a curse.

  Alex continued. “We’ve got a lot to tell you, Captain.”

  CB nodded grimly. “Same here. But let’s get those parts on the ship first. It’s time to go home.”

  4

  They’d only been back an hour when Alex got the call that Fleming wanted to see her.

  Learning what had happened in New Haven—that the council had been murdered and Fleming had seized power—had been a terrible shock. She’d only been gone a day, but somehow the whole city had changed during that time. And CB had promised to help Fleming with Resettlement in exchange for the opportunity to save her and the rest of the team.

  After everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, this final blow felt like too much to bear. Not only was reality on Earth different than what she’d always assumed, but life on New Haven had changed too.

  Brian walked with her to the Hub. CB was already with Fleming, briefing him on the Agartha situation and the status of the ship repairs.

  As they walked, Brian caught her up on what she’d missed. “Fleming made an announcement to the whole city this morning. He told them an accident had killed the council.”

  “Convenient accident for him,” Alex muttered.

  Brian nodded. “Based on the limited number of people I’ve talked to since the speech, many are actually buying it.”

  “You’re kidding me,” she growled. “He’s already rewriting history.”

  “I have to admit, it was a good speech. Trying times ahead. We must pull together. He’s taking control until elections can be arranged. Blah blah blah.”

  “I won’t be holding my breath for those elections,” Alex said.

  Brian nodded. “CB says we have to play nice for now.”

  “I’ll do my best, but no promises.”

  When they reached Fleming’s office in the Hub, he greeted them warmly and ushered them inside where CB was already waiting.

  He turned to Alex, his eyes wide with compassion. If the emotion wasn’t genuine, the man was one hell of an actor.

  “Lieutenant Goddard, I want to personally thank you for your service and express my deepest sympathy for your loss.”

  She nodded quickly. “Thank you, sir.”

  When they were seated, Fleming smiled at Alex. “I hope you realize what an amazing opportunity we have here. Your mission proved that Resettlement is possible. If Agartha can do it, so can we.”

  Alex glanced at CB. His face was unreadable. “Due respect sir, that city is protected by vampires.”

  Fleming waved her objection away. “We’ll be protected by guns and soldiers. Have a little faith, Goddard.”

  “I gotta side with Alex on this one,” CB interjected. “It’s hard to imagine what things are like down there if you haven’t set foot on the surface yourself. Maybe we could set up a camera down there and―”

  Fleming didn’t let him finish. “You made me a promise, Captain Brickman. I allow you to rescue your team, and you commit yourself to making Resettlement a reality. I held up my end.”

  CB grimaced. “I’m not saying I won’t help, but doing this right will take years. Hell, it’ll take more resources than it took to build this ship.”

  “I highly doubt that,” Fleming replied.

  “That’s because you haven’t seen it,” Alex snapped. “We can’t just throw some guns and soldiers down on the planet and call it a settlement. They’d be dead ten minutes after sunset. Besides, shouldn’t we be electing a new council? Do you even have the authority to do any of this?”

  “We are all fighting for the same thing: the future of our people. Even now Jessica is restoring the reactor. Soon, every citizen will feel safe again.”

  “That proves Alex’s point,” Brian said. “We’re safe. No need to rush Resettlement.”

  “You saw the vote,” Fleming pointed out. “The people believe in Resettlement as strongly as I do. In fact, some are fanatical about it. One gentleman told me he was willing to kill all the anti-Resettlement people in the agricultural sector to ensure loyal citizens would control the food supply. Of course, that’s barbaric, and I wou
ld never allow it. I’m only telling you this so you’ll know how passionate the people are. Going against the will of the people would cause a revolt.”

  There was a long silence, then CB spoke. “If the people are so loyal to you and your ideals, wouldn’t it be best if you told them to take it down a few levels?”

  “Of course. I always discourage violence. For example, several badges in the prison wanted to kill General Craig. I put an end to that and got them under control, but if something were to happen to me, I can’t say what they’d do.”

  Alex looked at CB for a long moment as those words hung in the air. Fleming had just told them that he was willing to kill half the people in agriculture and hijack the food supply to keep power. He’d also let them know that if anything happened to him, General Craig would die. Alex could only hope that CB knew a way to get the upper hand, because she didn’t see a way to beat Fleming right now.

  Fleming ended the silence “Let’s not focus on all of the negative possibilities. This is a time of great opportunity for the human race and for you personally. I know that the task ahead is difficult, as you have pointed out again and again. That’s why I need the best people to carry it out. First, we need to fill a few open positions. CB, General Craig won’t be returning to active duty, and I’d like you to fill the role as executive commander of the GMT. That means a serious promotion is in order. Congratulations on making colonel.”

  CB’s mouth fell open in surprise, but Fleming continued before he could respond.

  “Alex, you’re going to oversee the day-to-day operations of the GMT. You’ll receive the rank of captain, and you’ll be tasked with getting the team in shape and ready for action as quickly as possible.”

  The news was so unexpected that for a moment she thought he was joking. Fleming hated her. Now he was giving her command of the GMT?

  She’d never considered doing CB’s job. She didn’t even know if she wanted it, yet she found herself saying, “Thank you, sir.”